Orphan Grey
by emmer23
Summary: AU. Callie Torres has a relatively normal life as an orthopedic surgeon at Seattle Grace-Mercy West until one day she meets someone…someone who looks exactly like her. As Callie struggles to figure out what is going on with her life, she also has to deal with her burgeoning relationship with the hot new Peds surgeon.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Orphan Grey

**Rating: **M

**Summary:** AU. Callie Torres has a relatively normal life as an orthopedic surgeon at Seattle Grace-Mercy West until one day she meets someone…someone who looks exactly like her. As Callie struggles to figure out what is going on with her life, she also has to deal with her burgeoning relationship with the hot new Peds surgeon.

**A/N:** A horrible/amazing thing happened to me: I discovered Orphan Black. Then one of the characters on the show mentioned Grey's Anatomy, and I was powerless to stop this fic from happening. This is NOT a crossover fic; it is just Grey's Anatomy, Orphan Black style. No characters from Orphan Black will appear in this fic, so familiarity with Orphan Black is by no means necessary. That said, Tatiana Maslany is a goddess among us mere mortals, and I would encourage you all to watch it and bask in her talent and general delightfulness. If you guys hate this idea, I won't be offended – you can be honest!

**A/N2: ** For right now, this will not be updated all that quickly. I will try to update it more frequently (along with Crossing Borderlines) starting in August.

**Chapter 1**

"I have a stalker," the dark-haired woman remarked by way of greeting as she waltzed through the door to the attendings' lounge.

"Um, hello to you, too," the man in the room replied.

"Mark, come on, this is serious," she whined.

Callie Torres was a proud, professional woman, but certain situations just called for whining. This was one of them.

"And so is the reconstructive surgery I have in an hour," Mark Sloan replied.

"You're a Plastics god, Sloan. You can make this woman's breasts two cup sizes larger – or whatever you're doing to her – in your sleep. I have a real problem."

"I'm not making her breasts – " Mark began to argue, but stopped. Callie didn't need to know all about his ingenious skin grafting techniques. She was right. "I am a God." He slammed the patient's file closed. "Tell me about your admirer."

"No, Mark, not an admirer. A – " Callie scooted closer to him and leaned in. "a stalker," she whispered conspiratorially. She glanced around the room as if waiting to be pounced on at any second. "This whole week, she's been following me around. I keep seeing her on my way to the hospital, at my favorite food truck. I even saw her outside my apartment building yesterday."

Mark laughed at his friend's paranoia. "It could just be someone who works at the hospital. You live close by and the food truck is right outside."

"No, because she never comes _in _the hospital and I've never seen her in scrubs."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Ooookay," he answered, thoroughly unconvinced.

"I haven't told you the strangest part, yet," Callie said in a low voice.

"What's that?" Mark asked, mocking Callie's tone and leaning in.

"She looks exactly like me! I mean, she has chin-length hair and she dresses like she walked right out of a catalog, but seriously, Mark, she could be my twin."

Mark stared at his friend for a few moments, waiting for her to crack. When she didn't, he threw back his head and released a peal of laughter. "Oh god, Torres," he gasped through his laughs. "I, of all people, understand a surgeon's ego, but believing that someone who looks exactly like you is stalking you is just too much."

Callie threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! Don't believe me? Meet me at the food truck at 1pm today and you'll see for yourself."

At that moment, Callie's pager sounded, calling her for a consult in the Peds department. "Seriously, Mark. 1pm. Be there."

Mark nodded, while he continued to giggle to himself, laughing even harder when Callie muttered under her breath about her preppy twin as she left the room.

**o0o0o0o**

"Hey, I got paged to Peds," Callie remarked, as she slid a hand across the nurses' station in the Pediatrics wing.

"Uh, yeah," the nurse replied, staring at the computer screen in front of her. She waved her arm ambiguously to her right. "Dr. Robbins probably paged you."

Callie narrowed her eyes at the nurse, before taking off in the general direction she indicated. Before she could get very far, an arm reached out and caught her elbow.

"Are you the Ortho consult? I'm Arizona Robbins. I took over from Kinley." The blonde woman's blue eyes shone as she stretched out her arm for a handshake.

"Y-yeah," Callie replied, taken aback by Arizona's cheerful demeanor. "I'm Callie Torres."

Arizona's eyes widened. "Calliope Torres! I've heard so much about you."

Callie grimaced. "Great." She took Arizona's hand and forced a smile in an attempt to match the blonde's grin. "Sooooo…you needed a consult?"

"Yes!" Arizona exclaimed, as if just remembering what she was doing. "Jordan Turner, he's a six-year old, who came in this morning with some nasty breaks. We set them temporarily, but I wanted you to take a look at the X-rays," Arizona explained as she led Callie to the X-ray room.

Arizona placed the X-rays against the light, recounting the early-morning surgery she had performed. Callie hummed as she studied the slides. "These are quite good. I would have set them this way myself," Callie praised. "The right tibia, though. I think that's going to require an intramedullary rod. He must have broken that bone before. It looks surprisingly weak."

"Damn. That's what I thought, but I was hoping you'd say differently," Arizona said, looking thoughtfully at the scan. "Kinley fixed that bone a few times. I guess he's just clumsy," Arizona remarked, though Callie could see that Arizona wasn't sure if that was the real reason.

"Well, I can clear my schedule for this afternoon and I can get him fixed up in no time."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, there's no need to prolong it. The temporary set you did on his leg won't last if the bone is too fragile to support it."

"I know residents usually assist, but would you mind? I need more practice with Ortho. Kids break their bones so easily."

Callie grinned at the request. She respected anyone who was willing to take Orthopedics seriously. "Absolutely. I'll see you at 2pm," Callie said as she walked towards the door. "It was very nice meeting you, Dr. Robbins."

"Likewise, Dr. Torres," Arizona said, a disarmingly charming smile appearing on her face and making her dimples pop.

**o0o0o0o**

When Callie reached the food truck at 1pm, Mark was already flirting with an unsuspecting pharmaceuticals representative. As he reached for a flyaway hair stuck to the pretty brunette's cheek, Callie sidled up next to the Plastics surgeon.

"Hi," Callie glanced at the woman's badge, "Jenny. This manwhore here has charmed his way into the pants of every nurse, Derm fellow, and pharm rep in the Pacific Northwest. You don't want to just be another notch on his bedpost do you, Jenny?"

The young woman shook her head shyly as the man in the food truck called out her order. She grabbed her food before turning back to the two surgeons. "Run away, Jenny," Callie advised.

When the representative did just that, Mark smacked Callie's shoulder. "Why would you do that?"

"She was twelve, Mark."

"She was at least thirty."

Callie raised both of her eyebrows and stared at him, and Mark quickly conceded defeat. "Fine, so she was just out of college. I wasn't about to propose to her."

Callie scoffed. "Besides, we have more pressing issues."

"Riiiight, scoping out your twin," Mark replied, as they moved up to the truck to order. "I'll have a number 3, steamed rice. She'll have a number 2, no pork."

The man behind the counter nodded and the two moved away to let others order. "She'll be here any minute," Callie responded, ignoring Mark's disbelief. "She thinks I haven't noticed her, but she's so not subtle. She's usually behind those trees over there."

Callie turned to watch the trees that lined the border between the sidewalk outside the hospital and a small park, searching for any sign of movement. She nodded and muttered "mmhmms" as Mark blathered on and on about his latest infatuation, Lexie Grey, the young resident sister of Meredith Grey, who was the daughter of the Chief of Surgery, Ellis Grey. The whole hospital could feel the familial tension. Lexie, who was in no way related to Ellis, was often the innocent victim when Ellis was on the warpath.

"…so I don't feel like adding to the hospital drama. Plus Derek told me to stay away from Little Grey, but she's just so pretty and – "

"There she is!" Callie whispered feverishly, grabbing Mark's hand reflexively. "Come on!" she said, pulling him towards the edge of the park. Callie had decided that there was safety in numbers and now was the time to confront her stalker. How harmful could an argyle sweater-wearing woman be?

"But, my sweet and sour chicken!" Mark protested as he broke into a trot to keep up with Callie's gait.

"It can wait!"

As they neared the park, the stalker took off, running further into the park, but not before Mark caught a glimpse of her face. "Whoa." He came to a stand, jerking Callie back with his sudden stop. "Shit, Torres. She looks exactly like you."

"That's what I'm saying!" she replied with exasperation. "So, come on! She's getting away!"

Mark snapped out of his amazement as Callie tugged on his hand and the two took off sprinting after the woman. They regained ground and finally caught up as the woman dashed behind a row of cars in the hospital parking lot on the other side of the park. Callie and Mark slowed their pace to a jog, searching for the woman behind the cars. Mark nodded ahead, indicating for Callie to attack from the front. She rounded the row of cars, spotting the woman ducking between two sedans. As Callie encroached in on her space, the spooked woman turned on her heels to run the other way, running straight into Mark's chest. Mark grabbed the woman by her arms and stepped back, staring straight at her and trying to wrap his mind around the insanity.

"Who the hell are you?" He boomed, squeezing her arms so that the woman would stop squirming. Callie made her way to stand next to Mark, scouring every inch of her stalker to find any difference.

"Please let me go. I swear I'm not trying to hurt anyone," the woman pled, her eyes wide with fear.

Mark shook his head. "I'm not letting you go until you tell us who you are and why you're stalking Callie."

"Callie," the woman aped. "What's your last name?"

Callie narrowed her eyes. "Are you serious?" The woman said nothing, but nodded slightly. Callie turned to Mark. "She's serious," she remarked incredulously. "The woman is stalking me and wants to know my last name."

Callie's look-alike frowned and looked imploringly at Callie. "I'm sorry. My name is Maria. Maria Clement. I swear I can explain all of this, and I promise I didn't mean to cause you any harm."

"Let her go, Mark," Callie requested.

"Seriously?!"

"Just do it."

Mark released his grip and Maria brushed of her arms, as if trying to rid herself of his presence. "You want answers, I can give them to you," she said to Callie. "But not here, not now. And _not _in front of him. Meet me tomorrow and I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Maria reached forward to grab Callie's hand and placed a note in her open palm, before walking through the line of cars, hopping into a Lexus SUV, and driving swiftly away.

Callie glanced down at her palm and noticed an electronic hotel keycard attached to a small slip of paper that read: _The Archfield, Room 213, 3pm_.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **I'm glad some of you are interested in this idea! Thanks for the comments. I will hopefully not let you guys down with the 2nd chapter. ;)

**Chapter 2**

Callie breezed through the door of the OR, hastily tying her surgical mask behind her head and taking her place next to Arizona by the operating table.

"Sorry, sorry I'm late," she said. "I – uh – I'm usually on time. During residency, I was always the first one to the operating room. Well, that was partly because I was living in the basement of the hospital, but, uh, you didn't need to know that. Anyway, I'm not usually late and – "

"Take a breath, Dr. Torres," Arizona interrupted. Though Callie could not see it behind Arizona's mask, the blonde's face had broken out into a grin during Callie's rambling, yet endearing, speech. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, absolutely," Callie breathed out. "I am here and ready to kick ass on this surgery." Callie was more than a little shaken up from her confrontation with her stalker in the park, but she was determined not to let it bother her. She was a professional and a damn good surgeon and no stalker, twin or otherwise, was going to distract her.

"That's what I like to hear," Arizona responded. "20 blade, please, Matthew."

The nurse handed Arizona the scalpel and the surgeon made the first incision. From that point on, any thoughts of Maria flew out of Callie's mind. She was performing a relatively invasive surgery on a child and that was the only thing that mattered.

The two surgeons worked in silence with the exception of orders given to the nurses and assistants. As Callie prepared the intramedullary rod for insertion, Arizona inspected the boy's tibia.

"Dr. Torres, will you come look at this for me?"

Hearing the mild alarm in Arizona's voice, Callie immediately placed the rod back with the other surgical implements and joined Arizona at the table.

"The tissue and even the bone itself – it all looks like it's deteriorating, or, or – "

Callie took a closer look at the area and gasped. "This bone has been broken many times. I'd say at least 10. And there's no way it's been set professionally all of those times."

Arizona closed her eyes and swallowed hard, before turning her attention to one of the interns. "Heather, I'm going to need you to leave right now and call Child Protective Services. Have them interview Jordan's parents while we finish up here."

**o0o0o0o**

"Now it's my turn to ask. Is everything alright, Dr. Robbins?" The two surgeons had closed up Jordan's leg after a successful surgery and were in the scrub room washing their hands.

"Yeah," Arizona replied. She gave a small smile to Callie, before averting her gaze back to the sink. "Fortunately, I've only treated a handful of abuse victims, but it's always so heartbreaking. It just makes me think about the number of children whose injuries aren't serious enough to land them on my OR table."

Callie shut off the tap and grabbed a paper towel before leaning back against the sink to face Arizona. "Your observation might save that boy's life, Arizona. You did that. And I know it's hard to think about the others. But what you can remember is that there is one boy who is going to sleep safer tonight."

"Yeah," Arizona replied, a genuine smile gracing her features. "I can."

Returning Arizona's smile, Callie reached for the handle of the door, hesitating to pull it open when she heard Arizona's breath hitch, symbolizing that the blonde was about to speak.

"Would you, um…" Arizona started. Callie turned around to face her. "Would you like to maybe get drinks with me sometime?"

Callie grinned broadly and looked down at the tiled floor, before meeting Arizona's hopeful gaze. "I'd love to."

"Tomorrow night work for you? Around 6 at Joe's?"

"That sounds perfect."

**o0o0o0o**

"You're not seriously thinking of going," Mark stated through his mouthful of a golden delicious apple.

"To what? The meeting with my stalker twin or drinks with Arizona?"

Callie had spent the better part of the morning following Mark through the hospital, making a verbal pro-con list in an attempt to decide whether she should meet with Maria. In that time, she'd also managed to slip in the fact that Arizona had asked her out for drinks.

Mark rolled his eyes. "I think you know where I stand on the hot Peds surgeon, Torres. And that is that you seriously need to get laid."

"Okay, so you don't think I should meet Maria?"

"You mean, I don't think you should go to a hotel room using a key card that was given to you by a woman who has been stalking you all week? Weirdly, no."

"She looks just like me, Mark."

"I know."

"I can't just…not go, and then pretend I don't have an identical twin out there."

"I know."

Callie sighed and pressed her thumb and index fingers to her temples. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Choosing wisely not to open that can of worms, Mark chucked his apple into the nearest trashcan, before enveloping Callie in his arms. "Be safe, Torres."

**o0o0o0o**

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Callie rounded the final bend in the staircase to the second floor of The Archfield. She cursed when she found she had absolutely no new messages, no e-mails, no missed calls, _anything_ that could have given her a legitimate out from this meeting. She was a freaking surgeon and she was on call and yet, for once, no one needed her.

She slid her thumb across the screen to get to her contact list. Her thumb hovered over "Mark" – maybe she should have brought him with her just to stand guard outside the room? Callie shook her head. This was getting ridiculous. It was unlikely that her stalker twin was trying to hurt her. And besides, Callie could totally take her.

Laughing at her own ridiculous mess of thoughts, Callie quickly jogged up the last few stairs, opened the door in front of her, and headed towards room 213. It was now or never.

She lifted her raised fist, prepared to knock on the door, when she remembered the key card. The only defense she had left was surprise, so she quickly pulled out the key and jabbed it in the slot until the light went green. Turning the handle and peering her head through the door, she noticed Maria perched on the edge of the couch, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Oh, good, you came!" Maria said, jumping off the couch. She quickly closed this distance between her and Callie and offered Callie her hand to shake. "We haven't been properly introduced."

Callie refused to take the woman's hand. "Right, because you've been…stalking me. You get that, right?"

Maria just shrugged, a smile still on her face. She turned to lead Callie into the bedroom of the large hotel room. "There's someone else for you to meet," Maria continued, undeterred by Callie's incredulity. Sitting on the bed was another woman…another woman who looked exactly like Callie with the exception of the blonde highlights in her hair.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Callie said as she scoffed and shook her head. She immediately turned around and headed back towards the door. "I am clearly the victim of some dumb practical joke. I have stuff to do, important stuff. I'm done with this."

"Callie, please wait." It was the other woman who spoke this time, her voice laden with a serious tone that stopped Callie in her tracks, though she refused to turn around. "I know this seems crazy, Callie, and it is. But you need to stay and hear us out."

Callie shook her head and snorted. Whoever the hell had hired her practical twins and set up this elaborate prank was going to pay. "Callie," the other woman implored once more. "Your life could be in danger."

Callie whirled around at that. "Okay, whoever you two are and whoever put you up to this, I don't care. I don't. I just want you to both leave me the hell alone. It wasn't funny when you started stalking me, and it's not funny now." Callie began twirling around the room, her head cocked backwards. "What, are there hidden cameras in here or something? Is this some stupid candid camera TV show?"

Maria stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Callie's forearm. "Take a seat, Callie."

Callie wasn't sure why she obeyed. Maybe it was the gentle sincerity of Maria's voice or the overwhelming need for answers. Whatever it was, she sat in the plush chair near the room's TV and waited for one of them to speak.

"I suppose I should introduce myself first," the third woman spoke. "I'm Laura. I'm a detective and I live in New Orleans. I met Maria a few months ago. We ran into each other at an airport. Without her knowing, I took her fingerprints and they were an identical match to mine. So I ran them through every database I had access to. Two others came up."

"Mine," Callie whispered. "I had to get printed for the boards."

Laura nodded. "Yours and Adriana's, a woman working in Argentine Intelligence."

Callie sat back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest and her shaking furiously. "Sets of identical twins – or quadruplets – don't have identical fingerprints."

"No, but clones do," Maria said softly.

The hands she'd been idly wringing in her lap stilled. Callie glanced between Maria and Laura. She was staring right back into her own eyes; there was simply no denying that. "Clones?"

"We're someone's experiment, Callie," Laura explained.

"No," Callie replied, shaking her head. "No! This is – this is insane. I have a mother and a father. I look like them. If I were a clone, how do you explain that?"

Laura pulled a small case out of her purse, followed suit by Maria. "The scientific evidence will tell you otherwise," Laura said, sliding the small disc to Callie.

"How do I know you haven't contaminated this?" Callie asked.

Maria laughed in disbelief. "With your DNA?"

Callie raised both of her eyebrows. "Says the woman who's been stalking me all week."

"Okay, fine," Maria conceded. "You can take a piece of our hair now."

Picking up the two petri dishes with a sigh, Callie shook her head. "For God knows what reason, I trust you." She couldn't explain it if she tried, but looking into these two strangers' eyes, seeing her own dark brown eyes staring back, she felt _something._

At the mention of trust, Laura and Maria shared a furtive look accompanied by a grimace, which definitely did not go unnoticed by Callie. "What aren't you guys telling me?"

"Someone's killing us off," Laura said grimly.

Callie lurched forward in her seat, nearly knocking the two petri dishes out of her lap. "Us? As in clones? Ho-how many of us are there?"

"We're not sure," Maria answered honestly.

"Adrianna was killed," Laura added.

"Okay, but she was a spy, right? Couldn't she have been killed in the line of duty?" Callie asked hopefully.

"Don't ask how, but I was able to examine Adriana's personal effects. She was doing research into us when she died. She had found out about me and another one from Italy named Gina. Gina is also dead," Laura explained.

Throwing the petri dishes into her purse, Callie rose from her chair. "This is too much. I can't…I just can't do this," she said, pushing past Maria in an attempt to get to the door. "You didn't need to bring me into this. I was happy. I mean, my life is crazy, but it was good and relatively uncomplicated until you came along."

"Callie, wait – " Laura tried to reason with Callie, but she was nearing the door. Maria jumped forward and grabbed Callie's elbow.

"Callie, we wouldn't have brought you into this mess unless we needed you."

Turning slightly in an effort to see whether Maria was being sincere, Callie stilled. "What could you possibly need from me?"

"The hospital, where you work, it has a new genome lab, doesn't it?"

Realization dawned on Callie's face, before she shook her head, disbelief clouding her features. "I can't ask her to do that."

"Miranda Bailey?" Laura supplied.

"Bailey is my friend," Callie argued weakly.

"You don't have to tell her what it's for. Please, Callie," Maria urged. "Don't you want to know how this happened? This could bring us one step closer."

Gritting her teeth, Callie pulled her hand away from Maria. "I'm not making any promises." Marching to the door, she grabbed the handle and swung it open. Before slipping through the open door, she turned to the two women. "You know how to find me," she said, and slammed the door behind her.

**o0o0o0o**

Casting glances around the large room, Arizona smiled when her eyes finally connected with Callie's figure, seated at the bar. Callie had just thrown back a shot, slamming the small glass down on the bar, when Arizona sidled up next to her, hopping up onto the barstool, and quickly and efficiently ordering a gin and tonic.

"Getting started without me?" Arizona asked cheekily, her dimples popping as she grinned at the brunette.

Callie returned the smile genuinely. "Mmm long, _long_ day," she remarked. "But it's getting better by the second."

Arizona's hair was down, soft curls framing her face and bouncing as she laughed. It was quite a change from her tousled ponytail she wore in the OR, a change Callie welcomed wholeheartedly.

"Flirt," Arizona chastised lightly.

"Can you blame me?" Callie asked rhetorically. She had intended to be coy, to take her time getting to know her new companion, to figure out whether Arizona actually wanted more than a friendship. She was going to buy Arizona a drink, compliment her scalpel skills, learn more about that big heart she'd witnessed the day before, ask her about her family, her hobbies, her favorite books. But then she'd met with Maria and Laura, learned she was a fucking clone and that that fact may or may not get her killed. And all sense of propriety and romance went out the window.

Taken aback, Arizona laughed and took a sip of her drink to give herself some time to come up with a response. Arizona was no stranger to being forward; on more than one occasion, she had managed to buy a girl a drink (at a straight bar, no less) and disarm the girl with her smile and charm her into her bedroom within a matter of minutes. But Callie was different. She'd heard the rumblings of gossip among the staff of Callie's last relationship…with a woman. She'd hoped they were true the second she'd caught sight of Callie's receding form, jogging down the hallway in response to a 9-1-1 page. So, when she'd asked Callie to join her for drinks, she'd been hopeful of this outcome, but she had certainly not been expecting Callie to initiate it.

"Calliope," Arizona said with a mirthful laugh.

Quirking an eyebrow, Callie took a sip of her drink. Did she seriously have two stalkers in the matter of one week? Noticing Callie's confusion, Arizona released a breathy, nervous laugh. "I, uh, I've heard a lot about you. And I may have done some asking around?"

Accepting Arizona's answer to her implied question, Callie nodded. "So, this is what I think it is, right? I'm not misreading the signs?"

Taking a page out of Callie's book, Arizona decided to match her forwardness. She leaned in, running her tongue slowly over her bottom lip to lick up any residual taste. "If the signs are that I find you to be one of the most stunning women I've ever met and that those jeans you are wearing are doing wonders for you, then no, you're not misreading the signs."

Callie grinned and reached down to grab her purse off the hook under the bar ledge. Fingering the petri dishes inside, she made a rash decision – a decision to distract herself from the chaos of just an hour earlier – and Arizona was a perfect distraction. Taking a swig of her drink, she chomped down on a piece of ice.

"You wanna get out of here?"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Sorry for the delay, but thank you for your interest! I'm hoping to be able to update more often from here on out. (And maybe I'll even get back to Crossing Borderlines…)

**Chapter 3**

Callie was pacing outside Bailey's genome mapping lab for the third time in as many days. It wasn't that she didn't want answers; she undoubtedly did. But there was a larger part of her that wanted this whole clone thing to go away – far, far away. As far as she was concerned, the less she knew, the less involved she'd become…theoretically.

But her entire life had changed as soon as she had set foot into the Archfield Hotel and the answers to many of the questions swimming around in her head could be in those small little dishes.

As Callie placed a hand on the door to Bailey's lab, her heart was racing. It wasn't just her she had to think about. She had a family, friends, a job. And she had the beginnings of what could be the romance of her lifetime.

It was her experiences over the last three days that made her desire for answers increase to the point where she knew that just walking away and never looking back was not an option.

**o0o0o0o**

"_You wanna get out of here?"_

_With great effort, Arizona remained stoic, pretending that Callie's question did not have her heart racing and her palms sweating. Sure, getting in bed with Calliope Torres had been her ultimate goal, but it hadn't been the goal for the evening. But now Callie was turning the tables and Arizona needed to catch up. She knew she should say no. She should take her time with Callie, romance her, get to know her. But Callie was looking at her so hungrily, so willingly, that no could not possible be her answer._

"_More than anything," she answered honestly, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in deeply._

_Callie slammed a few bills on the table, clearly overpaying for their drinks, before grabbing Arizona's hand and leading her out the front door. With her other hand, Callie dug in her purse for her keys, and released a frustrated groan when Arizona stopped, yanking her back in the process._

"_You're not driving, are you? Because, you've had quite a bit to drink, and I – "_

_Callie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and smiled. Keys in hand, she pointed to a high-rise across the street. "That's my apartment building. These are my house keys. I know that as soon as I get you into a private, confined space like an elevator, there will be no stopping me, so I thought I'd be prepared. You don't want me to take you in the hallway, do you?"_

_Arizona's eyes widened with realization. This was actually happening. She knew that just moments before she had agreed to it, but their flirting had escalated so quickly that there was no chance to process the events._

"_Um, no. That's, uh, that's good thinking."_

_Callie nodded, a self-satisfied smile creeping across her face. She tugged Arizona's hand and the two made the short distance to Callie's apartment in silence._

_It was Arizona who made the first move in the elevator. Callie calmly pressed the button to the fifth floor and turned to face the front. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Arizona had Callie pushed against the back wall, pressing sloppy kisses against Callie's lips, chin, and neck. She made quick work of Callie's jacket, and was tugging off the second sleeve when the doors opened and Callie shuffled them out of the elevator and quickly through the door to the apartment, not bothering to check whether Cristina Yang, her roommate, was home._

**o0o0o0o**

**o0o0o0o**

"_You're still here," Callie observed, walking into her kitchen clad only in a pair of underwear and an over-sized t-shirt. "And you're rifling through my fridge."_

"_Mmmhmm," came Arizona's muffled response, her head tucked between two shelves in the fridge as she searched for something. Callie took the time to observe Arizona's toned legs, muscles bulging from underneath Callie's gym shorts that she had apparently borrowed from Callie's drawer that morning._

_Evidently finding what she was looking for, Arizona released a cheerful "aha!" before extracting herself from the fridge, a pleased smile on her face. She combed her fingers through her mussed hair and waved the carton of eggs with her other. "Why the hell are your eggs in the back of the bottom shelf? That makes no sense."_

_Shaking her head, Callie asked, "And why do you need my eggs?"_

"_I'm making French toast!"_

_Taking a seat on a bar stool, Callie prepared to watch Arizona, enjoying the surprising domestic turn her supposed-to-be-one-night-stand had taken. "I bet you do this for all the girls."_

"_Just the ones I really like," Arizona replied quickly. Taking a break from cracking eggs into a bowl, Arizona turned. "Look, I, uh, didn't mean for last night to go the way it did." Noticing Callie's grimace, Arizona quickly amended her statement. "Not that I didn't enjoy it immensely. I did. It's just that I like you. And, if you're willing, I'd like to take you on a real date."_

_Callie got off the stool and made her way around the bar, grabbing the bottle of cinnamon on her way. Sprinkling a bit of cinnamon into the bowl of eggs, Callie placed a hand on the small of Arizona's back and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I'd like that."_

"_Yeah? Because you seemed all gung-ho for a one-night stand last night."_

_Callie pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks, releasing a whistle of air. "My life…my life is crazy and kind of complicated, or at least it just got more complicated. And last night, I just wanted to forget. But, I woke up this morning realizing that last night was the one not complicated thing to happen to me in a while. I'd really like that to continue."_

"_Good. Good!" Arizona grinned, her dimples shining as she turned back to the French toast. "I have a ridiculous surgical schedule this week, but how does Friday at 8 sound?"_

"_It's a date," Callie responded, lowing her gaze shyly, before looking back up with a resplendent grin of her own._

**o0o0o0o**

_It was on the second day of stalking Bailey and fidgeting outside her lab that Callie realized she really needed to pay a phone call to her parents. Her mom had freaking _birthed _her. She had a sister. She looked like them. If she were truly a petri dish experiment, how the hell did they all fit in?_

_So, with a sense of both frustration and relief, she walked away from Bailey's lab and found the nearest on-call room. Taking her iPhone out of her pocket, she quickly hit the "2" button, followed by the "call" button before she could lose her nerve._

_It rang four times and Callie had just about lost her nerve. Pulling the phone away from her ear, her thumb hovered over the "end" button, just when she heard the unmistakable sound of her father's charmingly raspy voice._

"_Hello?"_

_She released a puff of air and brought the phone back to her ear. "Hey, Daddy," she said hesitantly._

"_Mi'ja, it's so lovely to hear from you!"_

"_I know it's not Sunday," Callie began, before being cut off by Carlos's throaty laugh._

"_Is there ever a time I'm not thrilled to speak to my daughter?"_

_Callie had to join in her father's incredulous laughter. In that instant, her nerves and anxiety fled away. This was her father. Her adoring, kind, proud _father. _No matter what she learned of her biology, that fact would never change._

"_Good point."_

"_I assume, however, this isn't just a call to say hi?" He paused, but before Callie could answer, he jumped in gleefully. "Oh, is there a new man…or woman," he added courteously, "in your life?"_

"_Well, maybe, and I'm not sure if it's anything yet, but you'll be the first to know if it becomes anything, but that's not why I called."_

"_Then what is it, mi'ja?" he asked, sensing her nerves for the first time._

"_I have an odd question for you." Taking a deep breath, she dove in, "was there anything…unusual about my birth…or mom's pregnancy?"_

"_No, not really," Carlos answered. "Well, we had some trouble conceiving, but you knew that."_

"_Um, no, actually I didn't. I knew Mom had problems conceiving Aria, but I didn't realize she had the same problems with me."_

"_Oh, well, I guess we thought it was irrelevant. But after about a year of trying, it was determined that your mother had an inhospitable uterus, and we conceived you through IVF." When Callie fell silent, Carlos added, "Callie, you know as well as I do there's nothing wrong with that."_

"_No, god no," Callie responded quickly. "Of course there isn't."_

"_Callie, what's going on?"_

"_I can't tell you yet, Dad. Not because I don't want to, but because I truly don't know."_

"_I'm not going to push you, Callie. But I am your father. And my wife is your mother. No matter what."_

_Callie let out a shuddering breath. "I know, Daddy. I would never question that."_

"_I love you, darling."_

"_I love you, too, Dad. More than anything."_

**o0o0o0o**

Callie thought back to her experiences over the past week. Without knowing what was going on, Carlos had reaffirmed his unwavering love for her.

And as for Arizona? Callie smiled at the thought. Arizona could be something. But not until Callie sorted out her suddenly chaotic life.

And so, with a halting breath and a quickening heartbeat, Callie opened the door to the genome lab.


End file.
